This Is Guernsey

Martin Chapman shows his improvement as he claims third place on Sunday. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0544063)

TIM JOHNS coupled his current good form with a brand new bike to win the De Putron Super-Duathlon on Sunday.

Conditions were challenging, but not too uncomfortable as the blustery wind blew across Les Amarreurs transition area and made running and cycling more difficult on the exposed parts of the coastal course.

The run-bike-run-bike-run format comprised an initial one mile run north to Chouet and back, a 6.5-mile cycle to Grandes Rocques and back, a second one mile run south towards Pinetrees at Sandy Hook, a repeat of the cycle section and finishing with another one-mile sprint to Chouet and back.

A fast and furious first mile was led out by Luke Walton and Dan Smith, both returning to transition in 5min. 28sec. Four other competitors were in transition in under six minutes, including the fast improving junior, Martin Chapman, together with Johns and Richard Stapley.

Smooth transitions in the super-duathlon format proved the key to success. With four changes of kit necessary, several of the triathletes chose to cycle in running shoes rather than waste time changing footwear, which takes vital seconds.

Johns, who won the previous event on a single-speed bike, was giving his new Specialized triathlon cycle a first race.

His fast transition was followed by the fastest bike split of the day (17.54 for 6.5 miles including transition time), followed closely by Walton.

Tom Becker moved quickly through the field on the bike to catch and pass all up to and including Chapman. Smith slipped back slightly on the bike section, passed by Stapley and Mark Naftel.

Becker then made an uncharacteristic error by taking the wrong route through the L’Islet road works, effectively ending his race.

The second transition from bike to run saw positions altering again with the change from cycling kit back to running.

Walton moved back up closer to Johns with a faster run split, fastest second run going again to Smith, who entered transition three back to the bike with Naftel, Stapley and Chapman all changing at the same time.

Positions further down the field changed regularly during the race.

Lyn Mahy and Shanine Johns could barely be split, with speedy junior competitor Alex Falla keeping the two women in close company for almost the whole race.

Mahy again enjoyed the edge on the bike, with Johns just keeping up with slightly faster run splits.

Tim Johns stretched his lead further on the second bike section with another fastest split and ended the race overall a full minute clear of second placed Walton.

Chapman enjoyed a fast end to his race to take third, his best finish yet in duathlon and a sign of his improvement as an athlete overall as he makes the move from competitive junior swim specialist to triathlon.

Mahy edged out a lead on the bike to be first women to leave Johns and Falla behind to fight out their finish.

Falla enjoyed the faster last run to beat Johns by a mere 10 seconds. Steve Smith and Jon Sexton enjoyed their first outing in duathlon and continue this season’s theme of new faces taking up the triathlon bug.

The next race in the De Putron series is a duathlon at Pembroke on 13 April comprising three-mile run, 20-mile bike, three-mile run for seniors and 1-10-1 for juniors.

The club’s popular De Putron Novice/Junior and Corporate Relay Triathlon takes place at Beau Sejour on 18 May.

Article posted on 4th March, 2008 - 2.29pm